By Genalyn Kabiling Humbled by the coronavirus pandemic, President Duterte has offered an apology to the owners of two Metro Manila water concessionaires for hurling harsh words at them in the past, and expressed his willingness to talk to them. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (ACE MORANDANTE / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) The President has promised to be "nice" and "reasonable" as he thanked the business leaders, particularly the Ayalas and Manuel Pangilinan, for helping the government in the coronavirus response. The business tycoons accepted the apology and welcomed the new development in separate statements. “I would like to thank the President for his remarks tonight, most especially for his sincerity and kindness,” said Pangilinan, head of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), and more popularly known as “MVP,” in a Twitter post Monday. Ayala Corporation chairman and chief executive officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala, in a joint statement, said: “We are grateful for President Duterte’s statement at the briefing last night. We have always believed in building a strong partnership between the private and public sectors in addressing our country’s problems and in investing in the country to create jobs and improve the lives of Filipinos.” Duterte had previously railed against the the Ayala-led Manila Water Company Inc. and Pangilinan-led Maynilad Water Services Inc. over the alleged onerous water contracts between them and the government. "'Yung mga masakit kong salita (My hurtful words) to the Ayalas and to Pangilinan, I apologize for the hurting words. If you can find in your heart to forgive me, because if you do not, I will ask, if you do not want to forgive me, I will undercut you and go directly to God," he said in his public address late Monday night (May 4). The President, sounding contrite, said he appreciates the help of the business leaders amid the latest public health emergency. "Mayroon tayong mga problema noon which was really part of governance, and which you hope you'd understand that it was really part of my sworn duty as an employee of government who heads the executive departments. Words were, mainly mine, if you can just forget it for the moment, I'd like to thank you for the bottom of my heart for helping us provide the necessities of the moment," he said. Duterte also offered to hold talks with the water companies, admitting that he was humbled by the pandemic and how businesses have pitched in to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. "I can promise you that I will be nice, and if you want to see we can talk and naubos na yung pagkasuplado ko kasi dahil sa COVID (my arrogance has all been used up because of COVID). The COVID humbled me. With the kind of response that you gave to the public, it's a humbling experience for me that you know, baka kailangan mo rin sila balang araw (you might need them someday," he said. "So maybe there will be a lot of legal issues, but we can talk. I'm ready to talk and I'll be reasonable," he added. In recent months, the President repeatedly threatened to jail the owners of the two water companies over the alleged onerous contracts that bargained away the country’s sovereignty. He branded them the big fishes in the campaign against corruption as he vowed to pursue charges of plunder and economic sabotage. Back in March, Duterte declared he was willing to hold talks with the two water firms in public to address the dispute over their contracts, while making clear he could not guarantee they would not be held accountable for plunder in relation to the concessionaire contracts.